Saw It Coming
by Kawa-Misuterii
Summary: He hoped he wouldn't get caught. Turns out she knew all along, and had left him long ago.


Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. Duh.

Okay, this takes place in an alternate universe, obviously. Just felt like doing a one shot today.

Saw It Coming

Driving home was always the worst part. Now was the time the regret and guilt set in. The excitement had worn off, and now all he felt was an empty black hole in his chest, warning him of his impending doom.

InuYasha pulled up to the longest red light in the town, and tapped his fingers to the beat of the Janis Joplin tune playing on the radio. Sometimes he imagined his wife's sultry voice lamenting his constant betrayals through the soulful songs, but today all he thought of was how desperately he wished that Kagome wouldn't notice how late he was. Or even worse, call his work.

He loved her, he really did. But he loved his childhood sweetheart, too. He just couldn't pick between the two. Kikyou was mysterious and cunning, exotic and exactly what he wanted...every now and then. Kagome, on the other hand, was warm and loving, the arms he wanted to wake up in for the rest of his life, the woman he wanted to have a child with.

It was hard to describe his dilemma, but all he knew was that Kagome could never find out. Surely by now she must have had her suspicions. He was distant and couldn't look her in the eye anymore. He hadn't mentioned having children for quite some time now, and he disappeared after work for an extra hour or two, he knew she knew that.

InuYasha was sure she'd gone off the birth control though, he hadn't seen the bottle around for quite sometime now. And she always welcomed him home with a smile, and a story of how her day went. She wasn't the type to be untrusting, so he still had a chance to end this stupid cycle before it got out of hand, right?

He pulled the silver Volvo pulled into their driveway, not bothering to put it into the garage, even though it was raining drearily. He grabbed his suitcase from the front seat beside him and hunched his trench coat over his shoulders, pulling his hat over his eyes in order to protect himself from the cold shower.

Quickly scurrying to the front door, he pulled out his key to open it, and was surprised to find that it was already open. Strange, Kagome always had it locked, whether she was home or not. He stepped inside, shivering profusely as he slipped off his coat and shoes, resting his briefcase by the short set of steps leading up to his living room.

He walked up and turned to see he wife sitting on their couch, the lamp on beside her as she read another one of her thick texts. She had a fascination with any type of history, and it seemed she was almost finished with yet another book. Another addition to her growing library in their furnished basement, he thought and smiled. She was so studious.

"Hey, dear." she smiled warmly at him, and he felt himself exhale in relief. She didn't seem mad at all. In fact, she looked pleased to see him. He hadn't been spending enough time with her. Perhaps if he could just remind himself how much he loved her, he could get over Kikyou once and for all.

"I had take out tonight. Oh, and I left you something on the counter." she said, turning to the last page in her book. InuYasha smiled at her sweetness. He looked around his living room and adjoining dining room. Was it just him, or did it seem...emptier than usual? Shaking his head, he made his way to the bedroom to change into a comfortable t-shirt and boxers.

Again, he got that feeling that there was something missing in this room. He looked around, and noticed that her jewelry box and various knick-knacks she kept on their dresser were missing.

'Strange....she must have stayed home from work and cleaned today. She'd said something about taking a day for herself.' he thought, furrowing his eyebrows. Shrugging, he opened his drawer on the bottom.

'Ah, she washed all my clothes.' he smiled as he pulled out a fresh shirt, lifting the soft cotton to his nose and inhaling the clean scent, mixed slightly with her own. He pulled it on, along with comfortable shorts, and walked back out to the kitchen to see what she'd saved for him to eat. He was starving!

Feeling another twinge of guilt at that thought, he stepped through the entryway of the kitchen, to stop and stare at what was on the counter. Something that confirmed his worst nightmare. Something he desperately wished would disappear, and be replaced with a steaming bowl of ramen; at that very instant. Now, NOW! PLEASE!

He took a tentative step forward, and looked in frozen horror at a black and white picture of himself and Kikyou at an outdoor cafИ, holding hands. He was too scared to look over the counter at Kagome, but he could see the light from her lamp out of the corner of his eye. His hand shaking ridiculously, he picked up the photo, only to see another one underneath, this one of him embracing Kikyou lovingly while she purred in his ear.

There were over a dozen, and each one was worse than the last. Kikyou kissing his cheek, him and Kikyou making out under a tree, his arm around her as they checked into a cheap motel, her naked body over his as they fucked in a dark room. He felt his blood turn to ice as he set them down, and looked to the packet of white, official looking papers placed above the photos, and felt the last breath of oxygen leave his lungs.

**Divorce papers.**

"I thought about taking the house and all of your money, but I don't really want to live here. So I'll just settle for the cash." a smooth voice called him out of his moment of shock from the direction of the light.

"Kagome....I-" he tried to start, but she cut him off with the 'snap!' for her book shutting.

"I've already got an apartment, and my editor is okay with me relocating so long as I spit out another historical novel for her. All you have to do is sign a couple dotted lines there and send it to the address on the first page." she said as she indicated to the packet of papers.

"How long have..." he whispered, trailing off the question, needing to know how long she'd been planning to abandon him.

Kagome stood there, glaring at him, and in a sick way, he could only think of how beautiful she looked, and how strong of a front she was putting up. Obviously she'd already cried her tears, and gotten over it. He couldn't help but be a little proud of her. She always could take care of herself way better than he ever tried.

"The reunion. You barely acknowledge your high school girlfriend, but all she did was stare at you?" she said and chuckled darkly. "You'd think that would've tipped me off, but here I just thought she was jealous. Still...I'm glad I opened up that account when I did. Won't need your money until I feel like getting a new car." Kagome smiled. He wished he could make her stop, but it was like a car wreck and he couldn't move, only stand and watch.

"You know, for being your best friend, Miroku was surprisingly helpful when Sesshomaru told me you might not have been exactly faithful. I even got to help. I tracked you down, followed you, the works. All he had to do was take the pictures, in the end. You know how terrible I am with cameras."

"Kagome....I'm...I never..." he tried to start, but she closed her eyes and looked away, slicing her hand through the air to indicate him to shut up.

"Don't bother. It's over, InuYasha. Gotta say, I'm glad I never actually went off the birth control, either. A kid would make this way more difficult." she said, and he felt the tears prickle his eyes. She never even tried to have a kid with him? He'd rather be sterile than have to deal with that!

"You can give Sango a call if you need anything from me. Although I don't want to hear from you anything short of your death." she warned him, smiling warmly, as if she'd just offered to go pick up his dry cleaning.

With that, she turned away from him, disappearing behind the wall behind the refrigerator, and reappearing on the other side and stepping lightly down the stairs. She slipped her long coat and boots on, grabbed her pink umbrella, and with the next moment she was gone, the sound of her tiny electric car pulling out of the road in front of their house and blending into the mist of the rain and street.

Finally feeling the nerves in his legs spark to life, he leaped in two bounds to the basement, her haven. He hadn't been down there in a while, but she would have to return for her things, right?

No. Hundreds of books, CD's and movies were nonexistent on the wall to wall shelves he'd built her in the first year of their marriage. Her favorite chair had disappeared, leaving only a distinct spot on the carpet that was cleaner than the rest. All of the artifacts she'd collected over the years, gone. All that was left was the big screen TV he'd insisted on getting, his own favorite chair, and the couch they'd picked out specifically for their kids to sit on when they had a movie night.

Behind him, the computer they shared sat ominously, left in sleep mode. He stepped over to it, and finally the tears squeezed out of his eyes when he saw that her account had been deleted, and only his own icon sat on the desktop.

This was it, his life....it was over. He'd destroyed it himself, by his own hand. He couldn't blame his crappy upbringing, or his brother, although he'd be having a word with him about telling Kagome about....ah, who was he kidding. He should ask Sesshomaru to kick his ass for not having the balls to tell her himself.

His own best friend, Miroku, was so ashamed of him, he'd handed the evidence over to Kagome without a second thought. No doubt his boss would find out, and he'd be fired for 'moral' reasons. They didn't want an adulterer running the foster care department, and there were plenty clamoring for his job.

"I...I'm so sorry." he cried, and struggle to hold back hysterical sobs. He lamented hurting his wife, and he lamented the destruction of the life he'd dreamed of since he was in college, and enamored by a pretty, black-haired history major.

She'd done this on purpose, the conniving, scorned bitch . She knew that if he was hit with all of this at once, he'd break down. At least she'd had time to be hurt, time to plan another life. How the hell was he supposed to pull himself together after this? Well, she'd taken care of everything, including her revenge. That was just like Kagome. Don't leave any loose ends, don't leave anything left that can come back and bite you in the ass anymore than you already have been.

He deserved it, though. He felt an unusual sensation in his stomach. She deserved so much better than scum like him, but he couldn't stand the idea of her starting a new life without his presence beside her. Roughly wiping the wetness out of his eyes, he stood up and walked over to a cupboard he hardly ever used.

He popped open a bottle of Jack Daniels. He'd never been much of a drinker, but now seemed like a great time to start. He slowly raised the hard liquor to his mouth and allowed the harsh liquid to run down his throat, warming his stomach and numbing the pain in his chest.

"Jesus." he moaned, and pressed the bottle to his forehead. "You'll have to be my company, from now on." he told it, and preceded to drink himself into oblivion.


End file.
